1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is directed in general to waste handling systems, and more particularly to a standardized sanitary system that can be installed in a recreational vehicle such that waste is discharged from the toilet at a point that is not horizontally aligned with an inlet of a waste storage receptacle. According to the present invention, the waste storage receptacle can be installed to make efficient use of the limited space of the recreational vehicle.
2. Description of Related Art
Recreational vehicle (“RV”) manufacturers offer potential buyers a variety of RV models to choose from. Each model is unique and contains features adapted to fit the needs of particular buyers. To meet these needs and include all of the desired features in the RV, the RV manufacturer must install components at locations that make efficient use of the limited space within the RV. This often requires the components to be altered for such efficient installation on the different RV models offered by the RV manufacturer, requiring the manufacturer to inventory large numbers of these components.
Sanitary systems for RVs are included in the group of components that are custom installed depending on the model of the RV. A conventional gravity feed RV toilet is installed directly above a receptacle that receives and holds human waist, commonly referred to as a holding tank. As the name of the toilet implies, waste in the toilet is flushed along with an optional flush solution through a vertical pipe that forms an interior passage from a bowl portion of the toilet to the holding tank. Thus, gravity drains the waste from the bowl portion into the holding tank. According to this arrangement, though, the outlet of the bowl has to be horizontally aligned in registry with an inlet of the holding tank. This requirement prevents the RV manufacturer from placing any component other than the holding tank directly below the toilet, even if this is not the most efficient arrangement of the components.
To allow the RV manufacturer some discretion in choosing a location for the holding tank relative to the toilet, an angular fitting was included at the outlet of the bowl portion to incline the previously vertical pipe defining the passage between the bowl portion and the holding tank. To prevent blockage of the pipe, the angular fitting can not hold the pipe in an orientation that deviated more than 45° from the vertical position. Due to space limitations on the RV, a step was installed under the toilet to maximize the distance between the toilet and the holding tank. By maximizing this distance, the angular fitting allowed the pipe to extend a substantial horizontal distance away from the position directly beneath the toilet. This allows the holding tank to be installed at a horizontally offset position relative to the outlet of the toilet, if needed, to make efficient use of the limited space on the RV. However, to prevent the height of a seat of the toilet from exceeding a suitable height to accommodate a majority of users, a reduced height base portion of the toilet is used to offset the added height from the step. The height of the step varies with the model of the RV and the amount of horizontal displacement between the holding tank inlet and the outlet of the bowl portion required to efficiently install the holding tank. Since components such as the toilet are typically supplied to the RV manufacturer by third parties, the RV manufacturer is required to inventory a number of toilets with different base portion heights to ensure their availability during production of RVs.
Alternatives to gravity feed toilets have been developed to overcome such difficulties. Vacuum feed toilets operate by creating a vacuum at the outlet of the bowl portion to remove waste therein. Just as with the gravity feed toilets, the waste removed from the bowl portion is stored in the holding tank. But unlike the gravity feed toilets, the pipe defining the passage between the bowl portion and the holding tank can form an angle of greater than 45° from the vertical position because the vacuum will prevent blockage of the pipe with waste. However, such vacuum feed toilets are expensive and require additional features to be installed in the RV, features that occupy more of the already limited available space.
Accordingly, it would be beneficial to provide a low-cost toilet adapted for use on a RV that would give the RV manufacturer discretion in locating the holding tank in a horizontally offset position relative to the toilet. The toilet should not require structural modifications of the RV, and should have a standardized design such that it can be installed on different models of RVS.